1. Field of Use:
The present invention relates to fasteners for attaching or enabling attachment of buttons to fabric materials. More specifically, the invention relates to an article or an assembly having removable means for enabling penetration of a button shank or other member through a fabric to enable attachment of the button.
2. Background Art:
Buttons are believed to have been initially developed as a convenient means for connecting two pieces of fabric together. As buttons have developed, they have been employed throughout all areas of the textile industry. In fact, today, buttons are so common that they are often employed simply for decorative purposes. However, for almost as long as buttons have been known, they have been snapped, popped, lost and broken from the fabric on which they were connected.
Typically, buttons comprise a disc-like member with one or more holes therethrough for "permanently" stitching the button to a piece of fabric by means of needle and thread. Although the thread stitching a button to fabric is typically doubled over time and again to reinforce the stitch, breaking of that thread and subsequent removal of the button from the fabric is commonplace, especially when the thread is subject to excessive stress or as the thread becomes weakened through extended use.
The most obvious way to remedy the removal of a button is to sew it back onto the fabric. That process, though, can be a real nuisance due to the time, patience and skill required. Many would rather go without the button than put themselves through the tedious task of replacing it. Furthermore, once a button is replaced, it is still just as susceptible to being popped from the fabric again. Those consequences may be especially acute when an individual is inexperienced or inept with a needle and thread.
For centuries, medals, ribbons, brooches and a variety of other ornamental articles have been fastened to fabric by means of sharpened pins that are connected to the back of the article and are used to pierce the fabric. Typically, once the pin has pierced the fabric, it is secured at its tip by some form of locking means to complete the attachment. That form of fastener is advantageous since it can be performed quickly and easily. On the other hand, the sharpened pin of such fasteners almost necessarily risk injury, although minor, to an individual who later wears or otherwise comes in contact with the fabric.
Consequently, it is an object of this invention and many others to enable fastening of an article to a piece of fabric through the use of a sharpened member in a manner such that injury is avoided.
It is another object of the present invention to enable fastening of a button to fabric by means of a sharpened member in a manner which minimizes discomfort when the fabric is worn.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a fastening means for permanently fastening a button to a piece of fabric.
Still other objects include producing a simple, easily-manufactured, and low-cost button having means formed integrally therewith for attaching the button to a piece of fabric. Many other objects will be obvious to those of ordinary skill in the art in light of the prior art, the following descriptions, the attached drawings and the appended claims.